Chicago gunman gets 75 years for killing girl in 2006

June 26, 2009|By Matthew Walberg, Tribune reporter

As Englewood reels from the killing of another child, a reputed gang member was sentenced to 75 years in prison Thursday for killing a 10-year-old girl in the same Chicago neighborhood as she celebrated her birthday at a surprise party in March 2006.

Prosecutors said Moses Phillips, a reputed Black P Stone gang member, had fired at rivals on the porch of a home in the 2000 block of West 70th Place. A bullet pierced a front window and fatally struck Siretha White in the head two days before her 11th birthday. She had gone to the party at her aunt's home thinking it was for her cousin's birthday.

"A child should be able to have a birthday party and only have to worry about what gifts they're going to receive, whether cake will be served or whether they'll get to stay up a little bit later that night," Assistant Cook County State's Atty. Charise Valente said at Phillips' sentencing hearing.

It was revealed Thursday that Phillips was once the unintended victim of gun violence. At 13, he was carrying a plate of food at a barbecue on his block when a gunman chasing someone on a bike fired and struck Phillips in the leg.

But Phillips, now 22, learned nothing from the experience, Valente said.

"He, but for the grace of God, could have been a victim like Siretha was," the prosecutor told Circuit Judge Michael Brown. "But instead of realizing how lucky he was, he went out and perpetuated the same thing."

Phillips, who was a godson of Siretha's mother and once baby-sat Siretha, was convicted in March by a jury for her murder.

On Thursday in court, Valente read a short statement on behalf of Siretha's mother, Siretha Woods, after she was overcome with emotion.

"The impact of losing my daughter in this way, the suffering and loss cannot be measured," the statement said. "Nothing can bring her back. Both families are suffering. There are no winners."